VIDEO: Soul Sessions featuring Ginai

Ginai

Ginai has proven to be a compelling surge of dynamism that shocks the mind, body and soul with her charismatic, hypnotic voice and welcoming stage presence.

The two-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning artist was born in Chicago and inspired by jazz greats like Nat King Cole, Gene Ammons, Benny Goodman and Bud Freeman. Her mother, who is part Hawaiian, brought her back to Oahu and raised her on the North Shore.

Ginai won her first talent contest as a seventh grader and joined a ’50s cover band at 16 years old. At 18, she moved to San Francisco to pursue her music career, returning to Hawaii in 1981 and settling into a career performing for tourists in Waikiki — which included a decade working as Honolulu’s top Whitney Houston impersonator. She released her debut solo album in 2011 and continues work on her sophomore release, “Conversations,” due out this year.———
Video courtesy Soul Sessions USA. Visit www.honolulupulse.com every Tuesday for more performances by various Hawaii-based recording artists.